Spinners set up easy chase

Different colours, different formats but the same result. Not much changed as far as the West Indian fortunes were concerned as hosts India gave them a 6 wicket mauling in the first ODI in Kochi. After restricting the visitors to an average 211 courtesy some excellent spin bowling by Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina, the Indian batsmen, led by Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli made mincemeat of the West Indian attack and set up a comprehensive and dominating Indian win.

West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first. They fielded a predictable eleven. Jaydev Unadkat replaced Vinay Kumar from the Indian side that locked horns with Australia. The Nehru Stadium in Kochi was packed like sardines. Seventy thousand enthusiastic fans had turned up to cheer for the home team. The noise was deafening, the atmosphere was electrifying! The tri-colour flew high.

West Indies got off to a disastrous start. Chris Gayle was run-out by Bhuvneshwar Kumar off the second ball of the innings. He pulled his hamstring as he took an awkward tumble trying to make his ground at the non-striker's end and was carried off the field on a stretcher. A double blow for the West Indies! Marlon Samules and Johnson Charles were not going to be bogged down. The former flayed Jaydev Unadkat over point into the stands before Charles launched into the left-armer and heaved him over long-on for another maximum. The West Indies were on the counter-attack!

Kumar who had been very economical thus far, having conceded just 5 runs off his initial 3 overs, was taken for three consecutive boundaries by Charles in the 7th over. The fifty partnership came up in the 9th over. Samuels picked up a couple of boundaries off Kumar to take the West Indies to 63/1 after the mandatory powerplay.

Jadeja dived and held onto an absolute ripper off his own bowling to send Charles packing for a 34-ball 42 in the 11th over. Samuels followed his teammate to the pavilion after being castled by Suresh Raina off a ball that kept really low. The wicket was a bit two-paced and the odd ball was keeping really low. West Indies were reduced to 77/3 in the 14th.

Raina and Jadeja bowled well in tandem and kept a tight leash on the West Indies batsmen. The former was particularly impressive and conceded just 19 runs off his first five overs. Darren Bravo and Lendl Simmons rebuilt cautiously and did not take too many risks. The southpaw got the occasional boundary while Simmons was happy to play second fiddle. The pair brought up the West Indies hundred in the 20th over.

The partnership was just beginning to blossom and runs were coming with relative ease. Simmons slog-swept R Ashwin over square-leg for a six before Brian Lara (read Darren Bravo) cover-drove the off-spinner for a blistering boundary. The incumbent duo had put together 65 for the 4th wicket before Raina trapped Simmons leg before wicket for 29 in the 28th over. The slow left-arm bowler gave the visitors a double jolt getting rid of Narsingh Deonarine for 4. West Indies, at 152/5 in the 32nd, were in a spot of bother. Raina had picked up three wickets.

Darren Bravo was joined in the middle by brother, Dwayne. The southpaw notched up a splendid fifty - his 13th in ODI cricket. It was a tremendous knock under pressure with wickets falling at the other end. He whacked Jadeja over deep mid-wicket and deposited him into the stands in the first over of the batting powerplay - the 36th over of the innings. Dwayne launched into Ashwin in the next and heaved him over cow corner for another maximum.

MS Dhoni introduced Mohammad Shami back into the attack and the Indian speedster did not disappoint. He separated the Bravos going through the defense of Darren. The left-hander departed for 59 off 77 deliveries. Dwayne followed his brother to the pavilion when he was stumped by Dhoni off the bowling of Jadeja in the next over. At 187/7 in the 39th, the West Indies were in serious trouble and in danger of being bowled out before the completion of their full quota of 50 overs. The batting powerplay yielded just 27 runs for the loss of the Bravos.

Ravindra Jadeja surpassed Saeed Ajmal as the leading wicket-taker in ODI cricket in 2013 (49 wickets) when he dismissed Darren Sammy for 5. The West Indies tail did not wag and could only muster a paltry 21 runs in 8.5 overs after the batting powerplay. The visitors capitulated for 211 in 48.5 overs. Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina were the pick of the Indian bowlers with three wickets each. Both gave away less than four runs per over off their respective 10 overs.

Jason Holder got Shikhar Dhawan to edge one to keeper, Johnson Charles for 5 in the 4th over of the innings. Rampaul and Holder had bowled a fiery opening spell. They made the ball move around, extracted extra bounce and posed a few questions for the Indian batsmen. Virat Kohli announced his arrival at the crease with a sublime extra cover drive to the boundary.

Kohli looked in his elements as he continued to pick up exquisitely timed boundaries, piercing the gaps with ease. India had raced to 57/1 after the mandatory powerplay. Sharma joined in the party as he drove Sammy for two handsome boundaries in the 12th. He then slog-swept Sunil Narine for a six over deep mid-wicket. He was in the form of his life and brought up India's hundred with two consecutive boundaries off Deonarine in the 16th over - a majestic cover-drive followed by a deft cut. His amazing run of consistency continued as he notched up yet another fifty for India.

The pair raised the century partnership in the 20th over. Kohli soon registered his fifty and the duo had put together a magnificent 133 run stand before Ravi Rampaul got Sharma caught at deep mid-wicket for 72. But Kohli was not in the mood to stop as he picked up two consecutive boundaries of the West Indian captain to start the 26th. He then deposited Rampaul into the stands behind square in the next over. Meanwhile, the new batsmen, Yuvraj Singh looked a touch uncomfortable at the crease but was happy to bide his time in the middle.

Kohli equaled Sir Vivian Richards' record of the fastest to 5000 ODI runs when he clobbered Jason Holder in front of square for a scintillating six. The Indian number 3 reached the landmark in 114 innings. The flamboyant right hander got carried away and tried a shot too many and skied the next delivery off Holder for a simple chance to Narine. Kohli departed for a magnificent 86 off just 84 deliveries. His knock included 9 fours and 2 sixes.

Suresh Raina did not trouble the scorers and was sent packing by Narine. But it was a case of too little too late for the West Indies as MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh completed the formalities for India and took the home team to a comprehensive 6 wicket victory with more than 14 overs to spare. None of the West Indian bowlers had anything to write home about. Virat Kohli was adjudged the man of the match. The second ODI will be played in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, the 24th of November.